Sports Medicine with BTE PrimusRS at Mangiarelli Rehabilitation
At Mangiarelli Rehabilitation, our physical therapists provide a comprehensive sports injury rehabilitation program to manage pain and help athletes regain strength, function, and range of motion following a sports injury. In 2020, we added the BTE PrimusRS testing equipment to our sports medicine clinic, which allows our therapists to determine an athlete’s ability, progress, and safe return to sport based on objective measurements from time of injury to return to sport. The BTE PrimusRS equipment helps our physical therapists make data-driven clinical decisions and design evidence-based treatment programs for athletes to achieve optimal function and a successful return to sport.
The BTE PrimusRS testing equipment allows for:
Initial evaluation and baseline measurements at the start of physical therapy
Progress reporting to show improvement from session to session
Isolated joint testing, functional testing, and a full functional capacity evaluation to establish baseline range of motion and strength measurements, pinpoint deficiencies, and identify asymmetries
Assessment of the athlete’s maximum isometric strength at baseline and calculation of optimal dosing and progression to build strength throughout the treatment period
Multiple resistance modes to customize testing and treatment to real-life scenarios:
Isotonic resistance measures the force generated by the muscle while contracting.
Isometric resistance measures muscle contraction without muscles or joints moving (when pushing against something immovable).
Isokinetic resistance measures dynamic contraction in which the speed of the movement is controlled by the machine. It measures areas of strength and weakness in the muscles.
Continuous passive motion (CPM) involves the machine moving the joint a set number of degrees without the patient exerting effort.
In the video below, Mangiarelli Rehabilitation physical therapist, Mike, explains how he uses the BTE PrimusRS equipment in his treatment of athletes.
As Mike explains, the BTE machine and PrimusRS program is used in our sports medicine program for student athletes who have had knee injury to assess ability and safe return to sport. The BTE is used to isometrically test the quadriceps and hamstrings of the involved leg (injured knee) in comparison to the uninvolved leg (uninjured knee). The BTE also allows our sports medicine physical therapists to engage in isokinetic strengthening with the athlete during ACL rehabilitation, focusing on strengthening the quadriceps and hamstrings using the machine within 6 to 9 months.
The objective measurements provided by the BTE PrimusRS help to determine effective progress in knee strength throughout the treatment period and safe return to sport. At 12 weeks post-ACL surgery, the athlete needs to be within 80% of strength of the involved (injured) leg vs. the uninvolved (uninjured leg) to return to running and prevent re-tear rate. At 9 months of rehabilitation post-surgery, the athlete needs the involved leg to be measured within 5% strength of the uninvolved leg in order to return to sport.
